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This is image released Tuesday, May 1, 2012 by Standing Joint Legislative Committees on Reapportionment shows the proposed Senate redistricting map. It includes 15 majority-black districts in the 52-seat chamber, including a new one in the Hattiesburg-Laurel area. That is up from the 12 majority-black districts drawn a decade ago. The plan reduces the number of split precincts from 129 statewide to 14. (AP Photo/Standing Joint Legislative Committees on Reapportionment)
Legislative maps have to be updated each decade to balance the population in the districts.
The redistricting chairman, Republican Sen. Merle Flowers of Southaven, says he believes the plan is fair and will be approved by the U.S. Justice Department. Mississippi election changes must be cleared by Justice because of the state's history of racial discrimination.
The plan creates a new district in fast-growing and largely Republican DeSoto County. To stay at 52 seats, it puts two white Democrats, Bill Stone of Ashland and Nickey Browning of Pontotoc, into one district.
The 122-member House approved its own redistricting plan last week.
The two chambers must approve each other's maps.